Many leaders, bosses, and businesses experienced difficult challenges, hardships, and misfortune during 2020. This includes closing companies, losing top talent, and facing financial hardships. And, many also dealt with health and family challenges.
It takes brave and committed leaders to use adversity as a launching pad to transform a situation, project, and/or relationship. Doing it the right way makes individuals, teams, and businesses stronger.
Working through adversity is never an easy process, especially when it’s forced on you. But the good news is, you can do it.
A year from now in 2022 when you look back to 2021, you will see how you turned adversity into a great opportunity. You’ll also experience how it made you, your team, and your business stronger.
Now, not tomorrow, is the time to do the right work and use 2020 adversity to make you stronger.
6 Tips to Make You and Your Team Stronger
Get Real About What Happened. Everyone has experienced failure and unexpected adversity. There’s no shame in it. Breakdowns in projects and relationships can be due to things you did or didn’t do. Some catastrophes were beyond your control. (COVID) Regardless, it’s important that you stop and assess what truly happened and tell the truth. Putting frosting on mud pie and calling it a cake doesn’t change it from a mud pie!
TIP: Infuse objectivity into conversations by completing the year, project, and/or situation. Complete this exercise: What Worked? / What Didn’t Work? Then, ask, “What were the lessons learned?” This exercise must be done before you can move forward powerfully.
Develop Empathy. This can be difficult when you have little empathy for yourself and others. But it’s important during 2021 and beyond to develop emotional intelligence (EI). Seeing situations from others’ points of view make it easier for people to feel heard by you. It will also make it easier for them to listen to you!
TIP: To develop your empathy skills, talk with a qualified coach or therapist, and do the inner work required.
Develop Inner Confidence. Fake it until you make it is an old cliché where people imitated confidence, competence, and an optimistic mindset. The problem is today, fake confidence can be easily spotted. Instead, develop true inner confidence which in turn creates success.
TIP: To develop your inner confidence, work on a project with your team. Hire the right coach to guide you and the team along the way to ensure success and keep everyone focused.
Be Responsible for What You Are Saying and Sharing. Today’s focus on transparency can backfire when relying on TMI (too much information). It can damage relationships and the ability of people to trust you! This includes what you share with customers and top talent.
TIP:
- Keep a private journal and write down your thoughts and feelings. Not everything needs to be shared.
- Develop mindful resilience by forgiving yourself and others. (This is an inner exercise for you only. Do not tell others, “I forgive you.” Why? Because doing so only creates more adversity.)
- Work with your coach and craft conversation points to share with your team and customers.
Focus Forward. Stop rehashing what happened by completing your “What Worked? / What Didn’t Work?” exercise. Remember, emotionally strong leaders lead the way by focusing on what’s next, not in the past. Look for new opportunities inside adversity.
TIP: Work with a trained facilitator to guide you and your team through this inquiry. In the process, you will uncover new systems, products, and services for 2021.
Practice Thanks! Everyone loves appreciation. Saying “please”, “thank you”, and “great work” is important. When done authentically, your teams grow and your customers feel valued.
TIP: Get your copy of “It’s Time to Brag! Business Edition”. Learn how to brag in a business-savvy manner. Then, share with confidence the successes you, and your team and customers have had without sounding like a braggart!
©Jeannette Seibly, 2021
Jeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach. She has been an award-winning executive coach and keynote speaker for 28 years. She is an expert in guiding leaders and their teams to get unstuck and achieve dynamic results. Contact Jeannette for a confidential conversation.
A Note About Using Adversity to Make You Stronger from Jeannette. 2020 was a good year for some and a bad year for many. Stop lamenting about the awful things that happened. Instead, get unstuck and focus on moving forward. 2021 will be a great year if you learn from adversity and become stronger as a leader. Now is the best time to get started!